Registration open for 406 Grazing Academy hosted by Montana State University and partners

MSU News Service

BOZEMAN - Registration is open now through May 15 for the three-day 406 Grazing Academy workshop to be held June 6-8 in southwestern Montana.

Montana State University and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation will host the workshop, which is aimed at ranchers seeking to hone their grazing management skills and learn new strategies. Classroom activities will take place at the Forge Hotel in Anaconda, with field activities held on working ranches in Deer Lodge Valley.

Workshop participants will gain practical knowledge designed to help them make strategic decisions for their ranches. MSU educators, Montana ranchers and other range managers will lead the workshop, sharing expertise on optimum stocking rates, diverse grazing strategies, range monitoring, extending the grazing season, livestock-wildlife relations, coping with drought, wildfire and poisonous plants, and more. 

Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop to practice navigating online tools such as the USDA Web Soil Survey. Participants may also bring a map of their ranch for ranch-specific questions and discussion.

Registration is $200 per person and covers educational materials, a range monitoring kit, lunches and evening meals, and an optional follow-up ranch visit from an instructor later in the year.

Participants are responsible for their own travel and lodging. A block of rooms at the Forge Hotel is available at a reduced rate using block code "406 Grazing." Registration and the room block close May 15, and spaces are limited.

To register, go to opp.mt.gov/doa/opp/DNRRangeland

ResourceProgram/cart. For more information, contact Stacy Barta at [email protected] or 406-594-8481; Jeff Mosley at [email protected] or 406-994-5601; or Rachel Frost at [email protected] or 406-994-3724.

The annual 406 Grazing Academy is a collaboration between the MSU Extension Range Management Program, the Rangeland Resources Program in the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the Dan Scott Ranch Management Program in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences in MSU's College of Agriculture. Montana Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative is the academy sponsor.